Salute To A Switchblade

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Me and Yates, an army buddy of mine Were doing three years in Germany at the time We came upon these Fräuleins in the bar Yates said, "Darf ich sie begleiten?", they said "Ja" And "Darf ich sie begleiten" means, "Can we sit with you all?" [Verse 2] Oh, we must have drunk ten quarts of German beer My conscience and my sinuses were clear I asked that Fräulein if she was a spy She said, "Nein, but du bist ein bissel high" A condition not uncommon to the American soldier [Verse 3] Well, later on, I went to be excused When I returned, I was a bit confused Yates and his Fräulein had hit the air Another guy was sitting in my chair A young soldier whom we shall get to know better [Verse 4] I said, "Excuse me, mister, that's my seat I'd like to have it back, sir, if you please That girl's a nurse and I've been awful sick" The man looked up at me and said, "Mox nix" Which means that he was not overly concerned with my health [Verse 5] Next thing, I knew he had a switchblade knife Oh, I didn't know that Fräulein was his wife I took off through that Gasthaus like a fool Behind me, I heard the crashing stools As the police would say, he was in hot pursuit [Verse 6] Well, the waitress yelled, "There's MPs on the way" That's one more reason I didn't want to stay As I went out the window, something went "swish" And I giggled all the way home, knowing he'd missed At the time, it seemed like a laughing matter [Verse 7] But next morning, my coat was lying there on the bunk And when I saw that coat, it made me jump That man had cut my coat right down the back A little bit more and they'd been playing me taps And knowing the sad nature of that song, I would decline it [Verse 8] Well, later on, I heard that guy got stabbed They sent him home and didn't that make me glad On love and marriage, I want to say one thing Oh, lady, if you're married, wear that ring And the army has a new policy - "If you can't move it, paint it, if it has a switchblade knife, salute it" Not necessarily an incident one would want to write Mother about Germany being full of good soldiers and good people